Deluxe Beverage Package worth it for quality, fine wines?

[renji]

Hi, I will be in a suite on Oasis, traveling with adult kids in balcony cabins, and noticed the $50 spread between the beverage ($73/day) and refreshment package ($23/day). I was thinking we would get the beverage for the adult kids but stick to bottles of fine wine at dinner for us. We will maybe have one drink other than dinner wine, but will drink a lot of coffee, water, Virgin Bloody Mary/tomato juice with tabasco/Worcester (do they have that?)

 

We like high quality wine— Will we be happier with the wine by glass or bottle at dinner?  Any experience with the quality?  It looks like we’ll get a discount on bottles in speciality dining with our unlimited dining package and at bars with the kids’ beverage packages.  So our wine will only not be discounted if we have wine in coastal kitchen on the one or two nights we have dinner without the kids. And with 4 cabins, for $15 corkage we can bring 8 great bottles aboard. 

 

Is it a waste to order bottles when the 3 adults kids can have free wines by the glass?  
 

Curious about thoughts on the wine list by the glass and bottle…

[baelor]

You need to specify what you mean by “nice.”  For some, that is a Decoy Red. For other, it is a Montrachet.  I am fine with an occasional Barefoot Moscato, but you may not be.

[smokeybandit]

Define "high quality wine" as 10 people could answer that 10 different ways

[publicpersona]

Search this forum for wine menus that have been posted. If you see something you like available on a package, it might make sense to do a package. But generally if you want quality over quantity, then ordering by the bottle is probably your best bet. The dining room will hold it over from night to night. 
 

You’re not going to find a lot of wine knowledge, even from the so-called sommelier. Outside of the dining room, wine you order may get translated into “whatever is open” sitting in a dishpan full of ice.  After all a New Zealand sauvignon blanc is the same as a Columbia Valley sauvignon blanc, no?

[oldmom]

You can look up the bars on the Royal APP and it shows the prices of glass/bottle 

wine available. Vintages has the most since it is the wine bar.

Edited April 24, 2022 by oldmom

[happy cruzer]

Yes, look in the app for the wines by the glass.  So far bottles have always been the better option.  Especially, if you carry on and pay the corkage fee.  then you absolutely know you are getting a good bottle.  If you have several cabins, then you should be able to carry on 2 bottles per cabin.

 

so far in our experience if you know your wines, the ones by the glass are pretty ordinary. 

[skyking]

So we love love fine wines.   We had the premium drink package and it was just fine.  Covers some OK reds,  but keep in mind you can pay the difference.  I was drinking a lot of Oberon on the Indy two weeks ago, and it was 15.00 a glass, but the package covers up to 13.00 so just paid the 2.00 difference.   Wines like Caymus you will only be able to get by the bottle however with the bottle discount it brings it pretty close to market price. 

Edited April 25, 2022 by skyking

[matj2000]

It all depends on your definition of "fine wine"

 

You are not going to be getting Stags Leap, Caymus, or Cakebread with any package.

 

On a side note.

 

Why does almost anyone who is in a Suite always have to mention it in the post

 

When is has nothing to do with the question??

 

 

[renji]

1 hour ago, matj2000 said:

It all depends on your definition of "fine wine"

 

You are not going to be getting Stags Leap, Caymus, or Cakebread with any package.

 

On a side note.

 

Why does almost anyone who is in a Suite always have to mention it in the post

 

When is has nothing to do with the question??

 

 

It was relevant to my question because there is a lounge with beer and wine 11-11 and cocktails 5-8.  So some might have taken that into account in their answer.   And we have 3 other cabins that are not suites so that explains why we will have UDP and others in our party have the full package—so we’ll have a bottle discount. I just thought to give a full description in case someone had been in a similar situation and thought it through already. Certainly not to offend anyone. 

[Sms1973]

The package does get you 40% off bottles to $100, and 20% off stuff above that, so depending on how much you drink it could make sense.

 

As mentioned, the by the glass offerings are largely meh, but vintages will likely be your go to.  We spent hours there.

 

Also do check the app for MDR menu, the by the glass is disappointing but I found enough interesting stuff to keep me happy and week and make nice pairings.  Just don’t go in saying I only want X,Y, or Z and you’ll be ok in the MDR, specialty and vintages.

 

Or move over to celebrity, they do a little better on the wine list.

 

 

 

  

[renji]

2 hours ago, skyking said:

So we love love fine wines.   We had the premium drink package and it was just fine.  Covers some OK reds,  but keep in mind you can pay the difference.  I was drinking a lot of Oberon on the Indy two weeks ago, and it was 15.00 a glass, but the package covers up to 13.00 so just paid the 2.00 difference.   Wines like Caymus you will only be able to get by the bottle however with the bottle discount it brings it pretty close to market price. 

That is a good point, will check out the by the glass list…was just thinking it would be hard to get to $50 a day for each of us…and might be better to put that $100 to a bottle. I’m afraid with the package I’ll drink more than I really ought to!

[Sms1973]

1 minute ago, renji said:

I’m afraid with the package I’ll drink more than I really ought to!

That’s a veery real concern for me.  Oh well, it’s vacation.

[baelor]

16 minutes ago, renji said:

That is a good point, will check out the by the glass list…was just thinking it would be hard to get to $50 a day for each of us…and might be better to put that $100 to a bottle. I’m afraid with the package I’ll drink more than I really ought to!

OP, as others (including myself) have mentioned, having a sense of what you want or wines you like (or consider "nice") would be helpful.

[renji]

2 hours ago, baelor said:

OP, as others (including myself) have mentioned, having a sense of what you want or wines you like (or consider "nice") would be helpful.

Thank you, haven’t figured out how to describe it without offending someone, it seems to be a bit hazardous! I tend to like French burgundy for whites, big Italian reds, California reserve cabs.  Yes I will do one or two pricier wines like a Corton-Charlemagne or Tignanello, Shafer or Insignia or Gaja, but I mainly would try the $80-$150 range if there are some interesting things on there, I’ve seen a Bolgheri Superiore on a cruise list for instance, and there are nice wines for much less like a Louis Jadot…normally over a week I would mix it up. And yes, I don’t need Opus One to be happy and can enjoy a Decoy or Daou also— but prefer to mix it up with a few more special wines. 

[baelor]

7 minutes ago, renji said:

Thank you, haven’t figured out how to describe it without offending someone, it seems to be a bit hazardous! I tend to like French burgundy for whites, big Italian reds, California reserve cabs.  Yes I will do one or two pricier wines like a Corton-Charlemagne or Tignanello, Shafer or Insignia or Gaja, but I mainly would try the $80-$150 range if there are some interesting things on there, I’ve seen a Bolgheri Superiore on a cruise list for instance, and there are nice wines for much less like a Louis Jadot…normally over a week I would mix it up. And yes, I don’t need Opus One to be happy and can enjoy a Decoy or Daou also— but prefer to mix it up with a few more special wines. 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/vintages-menu-sample.pdf

^sample list from Vintages, which I assume offers probably the broadest selection on board.  (funnily enough, the Opus One is the priciest--not super surprising, I guess).  From your elaboration, my sense is that you probably should just bring 8 nice bottles and go from there.  

 

The selection of reds seems to be California (and then France) focused, while the whites seem more varied, but if by $80-150 you mean retail (rather than restaurant/cruise markup), you should probably not rely on wines available on board.

[Merion_Mom]

7 hours ago, renji said:

 

 

We like high quality wine— Will we be happier with the wine by glass or bottle at dinner?  Any experience with the quality?  It looks like we’ll get a discount on bottles in speciality dining with our unlimited dining package and at bars with the kids’ beverage packages.  So our wine will only not be discounted if we have wine in coastal kitchen on the one or two nights we have dinner without the kids. And with 4 cabins, for $15 corkage we can bring 8 great bottles aboard. 

 

 

There have been no reports (that I am aware of) of RC actually charging the corkage fee.  🙂 

[not-enough-cruising]

5 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

There have been no reports (that I am aware of) of RC actually charging the corkage fee.  🙂 

Agreed, I have never been charged, and I have taken a lot of wine onboard over the years. 

[sjb317]

19 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Agreed, I have never been charged, and I have taken a lot of wine onboard over the years. 

Us, too!😂

 

Sherri🙂

[Jasukkie]

Definitely max out your carry on wine. Many things on the wine list were unavailable on my last sailing. Of course that's highly subject to change by ship and sailing, but better not to be disappointed.

[Bead Pirate]

I think the "wild card" here is the availability (or lack thereof) caused by logistics issues. We were on Oasis a couple of weeks ago. No Bourbon (absolutely none), no Caymus, many higher end reds absent (one night at dinner I finally got a "yes we have that wine" on the eighth wine ordered)...

 

Very limited Saki selections and on it goes...

 

If you pay for the unlimited drink package (which we always do and enjoy) you need to realize that in current practice your choices will be restricted (this goes for beer drinkers as well).

[Sunshine3601]

15 hours ago, renji said:

Hi, I will be in a suite on Oasis, traveling with adult kids in balcony cabins, and noticed the $50 spread between the beverage ($73/day) and refreshment package ($23/day). I was thinking we would get the beverage for the adult kids but stick to bottles of fine wine at dinner for us. We will maybe have one drink other than dinner wine, but will drink a lot of coffee, water, Virgin Bloody Mary/tomato juice with tabasco/Worcester (do they have that?)

 

We like high quality wine— Will we be happier with the wine by glass or bottle at dinner?  Any experience with the quality?  It looks like we’ll get a discount on bottles in speciality dining with our unlimited dining package and at bars with the kids’ beverage packages.  So our wine will only not be discounted if we have wine in coastal kitchen on the one or two nights we have dinner without the kids. And with 4 cabins, for $15 corkage we can bring 8 great bottles aboard. 

 

Is it a waste to order bottles when the 3 adults kids can have free wines by the glass?  Q

I would bring 8 bottles of fine wine that you like.    We have never been charged a corking fee.   

They can give an opener to use in your cabin if you want to enjoy some wine on your balcony.

Then if you find a wine that you really want to try use your discount.   For you. I don't see any reason to purchase the DBP.   

[renji]

11 hours ago, baelor said:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/vintages-menu-sample.pdf

^sample list from Vintages, which I assume offers probably the broadest selection on board.  (funnily enough, the Opus One is the priciest--not super surprising, I guess).  From your elaboration, my sense is that you probably should just bring 8 nice bottles and go from there.  

 

The selection of reds seems to be California (and then France) focused, while the whites seem more varied, but if by $80-150 you mean retail (rather than restaurant/cruise markup), you should probably not rely on wines available on board.

I just want to truly thank you and everyone for the very helpful responses and not judging my wine tastes 😬. I am going to do refreshments rather than beverage, bring 8 fabulous wines as I’m driving, and not worry about the possible $15 charge given the alternative markup (which is probably higher than the 20% discount). When I’m not charged the corkage fee I add it as part of an additional gratuity anyway so I’m paying it to the cruise line or the staff either way, although I prefer the latter 🙂. We will save $700 and I’ll put that to an occasional beer and supplemental wine if I find a great glass or bottle on board.  And this will encourage me to wait for my wine and avoid drinking all day! Thank you, this site and the posters generous with your advice to newbies are just wonderful. 

[crewsweeper]

I usually order wine by the glass runs $10-$15.  Some are ok.  Some aren't available.  DW doesn't drink that much and so it doesn't pay to go bottle for us. If you don't like the high prices of really good bottles (and remember not all high priced bottles are really good), bringing your own works for 2 bottles.  Just have cabin steward bring you wine glasses, open in cabin and carry with you so you don't have to pay corkage or worry about someone else being poured your wine.  Frig is cool enough for reds, ok for most whites and roses.  Probably not quite chill enough for bubbly wines.

[goldfish65]

Has anyone encountered some better, uncommon bottles of wine that are not on the list, that they happen to have on hand? Don't flame me but I have become a wine snob due to the wine list at the resort steakhouse where I work. 

[Sms1973]

48 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

Has anyone encountered some better, uncommon bottles of wine that are not on the list, that they happen to have on hand? Don't flame me but I have become a wine snob due to the wine list at the resort steakhouse where I work. 

My gut is no… they buy for the fleet, so anything that makes it on board comes from a house that has a pretty high production, no boutiques.  I don’t fault them for that.